Sheila's first walk of the day was through the suburban road in Milwaukie. It was a quiet street, but an eventful walk, as many homes had dogs who were awake and probably having their first barks of the day as we walked past! And of course there were several squirrels that got Sheila excited!
We had decided to stop by Portland at the last minute, and fortunately Lisette's former work colleague, Krystal, was home, along with her wife Gretchen, sons Mack and Rayne, and dog Bruno (a full house)! While it was a Saturday morning, it was also a long weekend when we were in town, so many folks were likely going to be traveling since Monday would be Memorial Day (and the start of the summer travel season--we're prepared for things to get much busier in national parks moving forward).
After picking up a few pastries from a nearby bakery, we fortunately found a place to park the RV around the corner from Krystal's and Gretchen's home, where we caught up amid what turned out to be an epic home renovation happening at their place, thanks to some water damaged flooring. We hadn't realized it when messaging last minute, so catching up was even more appreciated given their home situation! Lisette hadn't seen Krystal since COVID about 5 years ago. Apparently Lisette's Australian accent has returned (for those who know, Lisette's accent evolved to sound American years ago). Makes sense being on the road and talking mostly to Michael these days!
As we were chatting, somehow we mentioned that we'd been lugging a huge, stuffed sloth that's almost Lisette's height since the beginning of this trip. Lisette had fallen in love with this sloth during COVID and had purchased it from World Market in the Bay Area. When we'd moved, it made obvious sense to get rid of it, but we initially were resistant. Then we did list it on Facebook Marketplace ahead of Valentine's Day, as Lisette thought someone could want it then--but in reality, who'd want to gift a stuffed sloth? It's not like a teddy bear, and could be sending a very different message to the recipient (that is, you are lazy!!). So we kept it, thinking it could appear in photos on our trip--but of course it's just hung lazily in the upper storage part inside the RV.
We ended up gifting it to Mack, who hugged it tightly and wouldn't let go. Hopefully he will appreciate it just as, if not more than, Lisette did. We're glad that sloth has now gone to a happy home!
Hollywood Theatre and The Wishing Tree
After leaving Krystal's and Gretchen's home, our plan was to visit a few highlights in Portland for the day. First up: a quick stop outside the Hollywood Theatre, a beautiful building opened in 1926 as a silent movie theatre, which today is a historic landmark that still screens films.
No time to watch a movie and it was still closed for the day, so we next drove through the very posh-looking neighborhood of Irvington (grand estates on massive lots, got that old money vibe), to arrive at The Wishing Tree, whose leaves were choc-full of white tags tied to them with people's wishes. For over a decade, people have taken a blank tag and written their hopes and dreams on there, although when we stopped by we couldn't find a single blank tag available! There are apparently other trees that have now popped up in Portland that also encourage wishes to be tied to them, which is a lovely community idea.
Ota Tofu: The Oldest Tofu Factory in the Country
If you're a foodie, Portland has a fantastic food scene for all kinds of cuisines--including Asian dishes, as there's a sizeable Asian population in the city. Lisette loves tofu, so she was excited to drop into Ota Tofu, America's oldest tofu factory, which has existed since 1911! Parking is tough in the area, so Lisette made the solo trip to the Ota Tofu, tucked away in an alcove, with a bright red door at the front.
It looked closed at first, but Lisette just happened to enter when there were no other customers present. Unfortunately since it was the Saturday of a long weekend the factory wasn't operational, but Lisette chatted to the sweet, elderly Japanese lady who gave her a brief rundown of the tofu being sold there: fresh blocks of handmade soft, medium, firm and extra firm tofu, fried tofu (cooked partially and all the way through), and soy milk. They also sold packets of crumbled tofu pieces with Italian seasoning, perfect for adding to a salad (and Lisette tried a small sample). Lisette could have kept chatting to the friendly lady about tofu, but a couple of groups of customers came in to order, so Lisette bought a block of extra firm tofu and fried tofu and left.
Because the tofu is handmade and so fresh, it doesn't require much in terms of preparation: Lisette pan fried the extra firm tofu, seasoned it with a bit of soy sauce like the lady suggested, and topped with scallions over rice. Same with the fried tofu. So delicious (definitely better than commercially store bought), and such an easy meal! Lisette will definitely continue to eat tofu this way, although maybe add some bonito flakes next time.
Downtown Portland Highlights
We parked in the Industrial District in East Portland, near Cargo, a two-story gift shop that one could easily spend hours in, browsing the items from around the world--including kimonos, cards, clothing, homeware, furniture, candy, etc. Perhaps we'd have been tempted to buy a gift for someone (or ourselves!), if we weren't traveling in an RV. There's definitely something here for everyone!
We left our RV here and walked across the SE Morrison Bridge. It was a hot and sunny day, so the water was glistening below us as we strolled across, and there was a fair that was happening below us with various tents selling gifts, food trucks and rides. As we crossed over, we arrived at another quirky Portland landmark: Mills End Park, which once was the smallest park in the world (this title now goes to a park in Japan). The park is only 2 feet across on a median strip, so you could very easily cross the road and miss it. It made us wonder though: how does one define what a park is? Because we think of parks as a nature place for recreation, and unless there are tiny people doing this that we don't know about, it's a bit of a stretch to call Mills End a park, in our opinion!
Portland continued to live up to its quirky reputation with Transcendence, a statue of a salmon swimming through the corner of a building (above, of course, a seafood restaurant on Salmon Street). We followed this up by trying to pinpoint an excellent etching of Bart Simpson by the creator of the Simpsons, Matt Groening, who graduated from the nearby high school in 1972.
By this time it was well after lunchtime. Lisette wanted to eat something light as it was a hot day, so she grabbed a sushi roll downtown on the way back to the RV. When we got back to the RV Michael figured he'd get a coffee somewhere as Portland, like San Francisco, is big on boutique coffee brands. He ordered a coffee from Coava's flagship store, although unfortunately it tasted a bit burnt and bitter--perhaps it was just an off day!?
Cathedral Park
In a neighborhood in Portland, we stopped at Cathedral Park, a pretty recreational area sitting on the banks of the Willamette River. There were a lot of people biking, jogging, having picnics, or just sunbathing and relaxing when we were there. The main feature though of the Park--and why we checked it out--was that the bridge arches that cut through the park is shaped very much like a cathedral. Michael had to trample through some brush to see it at the precise angle from the park, although the shape is also visible when driving across. There's a lot of history to this park, and there's also a time capsule that's buried somewhere in the park that will be opened in 2030; not too long now!
Strawberry Picking
About half an hour away from Cathedral Park is Sauvie Island, originally called Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island. A large part of this island is a wildlife area, and as we drove along we saw a ton of beautiful nature--and strawberries!! As the weather warms up, there are a lot of farms in different states that let people pick and buy the fresh fruit.
On a whim, we stopped at Columbia Farms, because we'd seen dozens of people lined up and down the strawberry fields, wheeling red wheelbarrows and picking berries. We figured we'd join the crowd, but unfortunately registering to pick strawberries closed half an hour before the official closing time, so we got there a few minutes too late. We've picked strawberries before in Northern California and enjoyed it, but maybe we can pick some other fruits as summer progresses!
An Abandoned Boat, A Nudist Beach and RV Repairs
Further along Sauvie Island, the strawberry farms gave way to sandy shores peeking behind the trees, and people parking nearby to go swimming, fishing, and get out on the water. On one of the shores, there is an abandoned boat shaped like a UFO, that's now adorned with a ton of graffiti. Michael went to check out the boat while Lisette and Sheila stayed around the RV--he had to walk to a nudist beach (and quite a lot of nudists enjoying the warm afternoon sun) to get to the boat.
When he returned, he noticed that the right hand side of the storage space at the back of our RV was hanging very low--and if we didn't repair it immediately, we risked having some of our stuff completely drop out. We had done a quick repair back in Utah when we noticed this, but this time it necessitated taking everything out from the back and getting rid of the rusty nails that had popped out. From here, Michael hammered the bottom back upwards, and hammered more than double the number of nails inside to try and strengthen the storage area. It seemed to do the trick, so hopefully it's reinforced much better now! Fortunately the warmer months mean that the sun sets much later, so we still had plenty of sunlight to get this done and drive on.
We had planned to drive toward the Pacific Coast the following day, so our evening was spent cruising through the Oregon forests, enjoying the beautiful green canopy of trees that lined the roads. There were plenty of roadside pullouts, so we stopped at one for the night. Cell and internet service was unsurprisingly spotty being under thick forest, and while we had quite a bit of road noise initially, less vehicles passed as the night wore on, so we could get some decent sleep that night.
